Film about Denmark after the German occupying force declared martial law and state of war with Denmark, in 1943-44 during World War 2. It was made by Danes and smuggled out of Denmark during that period. Opens with view of a church building and flocks of birds. Views of German army troops marching into Copenhagen, Denmark on 9 April 1940. SS troops dressed in black, marching. German soldiers carrying rifles with fixed bayonets, goosestepping. A fire burning at site sabotaged by Danish resistance elements in 1943. Derailed trains carrying goods to Germany. Fire at a German factory. Danish workers with bicycles staging a strike in protest German measures in response to resistance actions. Danes gathered in outdoor observance memorializing those killed by the Germans. A shop owned by German sympathizers (Quislings) destroyed by other Danes. People gathered on street on 29 August 1943, when the occupying German forces attacked the remaining Danish garrison and declared martial law. Announcement posted in Danish on a wall. View of Danish Naval vessels ordered scuttled by the Danish Admiralty, including the coastal defense ship,Peder-Skram, seen in front of a large building, the submarine, Havfruen (not seen) and others seen sunk at docks in Copenhagen harbor. Bullet hole through a glass window. A week later, on Sunday, 5 September, 1943, a German Panzer light tank is seen moving on a street, as pedestrians go about their business in Copenhagen. German soldiers patrolling on a motorcycle with sidecar. A man holding his hands up as he is hustled through a crowd under arrest by a German in black uniform. Motorcycle driving through pedestrians on the sidewalk. Spectators line a fence by an open field near a building labeled "Badstue Badminton." One, a woman, speaks through the fence to a Danish soldier interned there. View of the quarters of the Royal Guard at Rosenborg, occupied by German soldiers and with Nazi flag flying above it. Civilian relatives of interned men wait outside army headquarters for news about them. A courtyard, during a mass funeral, is filled with memorial flower wreaths covering the coffins of Danish soldiers and civilians killed by the Germans. Camera focuses on a wreath from King Christian of Denmark, among the many others. Two German soldiers march up a path at the Royal Residence Amalienborg, where King Christian is arrested. Views from moving camera as Danish flags are seen flying all over the city of Copenhagen, on 26 September, 1943, to celebrate the King's 73rd Birthday. The major exception is the Nazi Gestapo headquarters in the "Shellhus" (the prewar Shell Oil offices) shown in isolation. Views of people moving their belongings on hand carts after their homes were taken over by Germans. The slogan in English, "Do it well and do it now,"is seen left by Danish resistance fighters where they sabotaged a German military installation.

Danish Police and soldiers, in Copenhagen, Denmark, attempt to control a large crowd of people milling about on a downtown street in the vicinity of the Royal Palace. Several uniformed band members with instruments are seen trying to move through the throng. Scene shifts to the courtyard of the Amalienborg Palace (Amalienborg Square) where a military honor guard and band stand in formation. A little boy stands alone nearby, waving a small flag. A tall man steps in front of the camera, and takes the boy's hand to lead him away. Two soldiers in a color guard march in slow ceremonial steps, carrying the colors to the formation as the band plays and people watch and photographers take pictures. The honor guard shoulder their arms. Next they are seen at order arms position as camera focuses on the palace balcony, where King Christian X is seen by the railing of the left balcony, with a military aide in uniform behind him in the doorway. On the right-hand balcony, Crown Prince Frederik (IX) and Crown Princess Ingrid are seen with their three daughters, 6-year old Princess Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid (later Queen Margrethe II); 2-year old Princess Benedikte Astrid Ingeborg Ingrid; and baby Princess Anne-Marie Dagmar Ingrid, in her father's arms. The king returns inside and his balcony doors are closed. The Prince motions in that direction and converses with his wife, now holding their baby daughter. Change of scene shows a square in downtown Copenhagen jammed with pedestrians, some holding umbrellas. Camera pans over the crowd

Film made by Danes, after increasing tensions between them German forces that invaded them in 1940, came to a head in August 1943, and the Germans placed Denmark under martial law. It covers the period 1943 and 1944, after which it was smuggled out of the country. Opening scene shows pallbearers at the funeral of Kaj Harald Leininger Munk (aka Kaj Munk) a Danish playwright and Lutheran pastor, who was assassintated by Nazi Gestapo agents, on 4 January, 1944. Narrator states that Nazi murder leagues assassinated some of Denmark's greatest leaders to intimidate the Danes and quell any rebellions. The coffin of Pastor Munk is lowered into its grave. Memorial stone and flowers are shown. Smoke rising and then a large conflagration are seen, from Danish acts of sabotage. Damaged buildings and more fires, from Danish sabotage, are seen. In response, the "Schalburg Corps," a Danish volunteer branch of the Nazi SS, began counter-sabotage (called Shalbotage by the Danes). Film shows fireman on ladders at the building of the Paramount Movie Company, Ltd. where smoke is coming from the windows. (Narrator says film companies that refused every form of collaboration were blown up.) View of severely damaged Nordisk film studio at Helerup. Windows shattered in department stores and in all shops along a street. Illums Bolighus (famous store of Scandinavian design) and many others are wrecked. Camera pans up the side of damaged building with bird painted on its side and the words: "mod lysere Dage.." (Brighter Days). Views of the destroyed Royal Yacht Club pavilion, in Copenhagen harbor. Destruction in Tivoli Gardens. Its concert hall completely destroyed. Fire burning at the Syndicate, Denmark's largest armaments factory, from bombing by saboteurs, in June, 1944. Danes walking in Copenhagen, on a summer evening, flaunting the Nazi curfew from 8PM to 6AM and then lighting bonfires after dark. Abandoned wheel barrows and empty streets are shown when residents of Copenhagen all go home in a general strike. Several German soldiers are seen in otherwise empty street, as the German Commander in Chief declares the city of Copenhagen under siege. A German tank parked in the street amidst pedestrians. Barricades set up by strikers in a street. The American flag flying high over a street. The "Bulldog" a department store in flames. A car serving as an ambulance drives down a street displaying a white flag. A long line of Danes wait at a street corner shop for self-rationed food. Danes drawing fresh water from lakes to be brought to hospitals, where needed. View from above of strikers at a barricade. Narrator states that after 5 days, the Germans gave in and agreed to Danish terms. View of open area in the city, where people stand in silence to commemorate those who lost their lives in the struggle. Danish man looking through chain link fence. More scenes of continued sabotage by Danes.

View,through trees, of Klampenborg Hermitage (AKA Eremitageslottet or The Eremitage Castle) in Dyrehaven (Deer park), North of Copenhagen, Denmark (a former Royal hunting ground). Various animals are seen moving in flocks and herds. Summer residence of Danish Royal families, Sorgenfri Palace,located in the Lyngby-Taarbæk municipality in Greater Copenhagen. Uniformed guards are seen at the gates. An officer on horseback rides out the gate. Frederiksborg castle, Hillerod, Denmark. Fredensborg Palace on the eastern shore of Lake Esrumon, the island of Zealand, Denmark. (It is the Danish Royal Family’s spring and autumn residence.) View of Kronborg castle in Elsinore, Denmark (famous from Shakespeare's Hamlet).

A Danish crowd celebrates victory on the streets of Copenhagen, Denmark at the end of World War II. A British fleet enters Copenhagen harbor. British General Bernard Montgomery reviews Danish honor guard aboard a German cruiser in the harbor. Men and women dance on the deck of the ship. General Montgomery rides in a convertible car along the streets of Copenhagen. Cheering crowd on both sides of the streets. King of Denmark Christian X arrives for reopening of the Danish parliament.

Crowd applauds and waves flag during anniversary of King Christian X. Massed crowd in front of Palace. King in car passes through the crowd. Policemen on horseback control the crowd. King's car moves through the crowd. Papers fall from tall building. King's car moves on decorated street.